Expert to talk about psychosocial risk legislation, mitigating burnout at upcoming HRD Wellbeing Summit Australia
It's time for employers to be proactive given the growing legislation in Australia on mitigating psychosocial risks in the workplace, according to a people experience leader.
Legislation aimed at mandating employers to manage psychosocial risks has been gaining momentum across the country, with states such as New South Wales and South Australia, introducing them in recent years.
Farhad Ahmadzai, People Experience Operations Leader AU/NZ, Reece Group, said more legislation on the issue is likely underway across the country. His advice: "Get proactive on it."
"Don't wait for the legislation to change; the best thing you can do is start the consultation process now," he told HRD.
"Have the conversation with your team, do a risk assessment, identify the issues that do exist that are prevalent in your workplace, and start to put forward a plan now to address those issues that exist."
And these efforts shouldn't just stop for Australian operations, especially for multinational firms, according to Ahmadzai, who will be speaking at the upcoming HRD Wellbeing Summit Australia.
"Don't limit it to Australia. Extend it out. If it's an obligation in one territory or state, it's an obligation everywhere," he said.
"Take it seriously, and as a result of that, you can build some really good strategy that engages not only your workforce, but will also improve your bottom line."
HRD Wellbeing Summit
Ahmadzai made the remarks ahead of the upcoming HRD Wellbeing Summit Australia on May 22, where he will be joining a panel on how to mitigate burnout across workplaces.
"I'm really excited. This will be my first time on a panel, so I'm looking forward to actually getting involved," he said. "When it comes to well-being, it's a really passionate area for myself."
Ahead of the summit, Ahmadzai spoke to HRD about the persistence of burnout across workplaces, and why this remains a problem despite mitigating efforts from employers.
"It comes down to the willingness of individuals to be able to speak, that they have a psychologically safe workplace, to be able to raise concerns," he told HRD.
According to Ahmadzai, HR leaders need to generate the willingness to communicate work-related struggles both from the C-suite and from the grassroots up.
"You need to talk and consult with your workforce about what they need to see, what they are looking for in terms of initiatives that help support their issues with relations of burnout," he said.
"And the only way to really do that is to open up doors, allow for radical candour to happen between your employees, with their managers, and managers to their employees, to be able to really understand what things can be done in the workplace to reduce that burnout."
Impacts of burnout at work
Burnout can impact the workplace in various ways, spanning from the social to the financial element in the organisation, according to Ahmadzai.
"If we look at it from a frontline perspective, as our employees are burned out, that means they're less engaged, they're less able to service those customers, and therefore as a result, that has an impact on genuine revenue," he said.
When it comes to the social element, Ahmadzai said burnout can hit social interactions at work, which could potentially impact team dynamic and create toxic work environments.
"Lastly, the one that probably keeps everyone up at night who works in this space is that a negative impact could be a person's deteriorating mental health," he stated.
"The last thing anyone would want is for that to occur to the point where a person has a traumatic incident, and I think that's the reason why there's such an emphasis, there's such a push across the world right now on addressing this particular issue."
